U.N. faults Israelis in killing
A veteran Palestinian American journalist was killed by Israeli forces while covering a military raid in the occupied West Bank, a spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Friday, summarizing the results of the office’s investigation into the fatal May shooting of Shireen Abu Akleh, a correspondent for Al Jazeera.
“All information we have gathered — including official information from the Israeli military and the Palestinian Attorney-General — is consistent with the finding that the shots that killed Abu Akleh and injured her colleague Ali Sammoudi came from Israeli Security Forces,” the spokeswoman, Ravina Shamdasani, said in a statement.
Abu Akleh was not shot “from indiscriminate firing by armed Palestinians as initially claimed by Israeli authorities,” she added.
A correspondent with decades of experience for Al Jazeera news network covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Abu Akleh was fatally shot in the head on May 11 while reporting on an Israeli raid on the West Bank city of Jenin. Witnesses said the fire appeared to come from a convoy of Israeli military vehicles, but Israeli officials initially said she was likely killed by Palestinian gunfire before reversing course and saying it was possible she had unintentionally been shot by an Israeli soldier.
The U.N. conclusions — which included the finding that “several single, seemingly well-aimed bullets” were fired at Abu Akleh and three other journalists from the direction of Israeli forces — mirrored the conclusions of several independent investigations.
An Israeli military statement Friday did not directly address the U.N. findings but said Israel had continued to investigate the shooting and concluded that “Abu Akleh was not intentionally shot by an IDF soldier and that it is not possible to determine whether she was killed by a Palestinian gunman shooting indiscriminately in her area or inadvertently by an IDF soldier.”
Quake aid relief arrives in eastern Afghanistan
Tents, food and medical supplies rolled into the mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan where thousands were left homeless or injured by this week’s powerful earthquake, which state media said killed 1,150 people. A new aftershock Friday took five more lives and deepened the misery.
Among the dead from Wednesday’s magnitude 6 quake are 121 children, but that figure is expected to climb, said Mohamed Ayoya, UNICEF’s representative in Afghanistan. He said close to 70 children were injured.
Overstretched aid agencies said the disaster underscored the need for the international community to rethink its financial cutoff of Afghanistan since Taliban insurgents seized the country 10 months ago.
The quake struck a remote, deeply impoverished region of small towns and villages tucked among rough mountains near the Pakistani border. Nearly 3,000 homes were destroyed or badly damaged in Paktika and Khost provinces, state media reported.
The effort to help the victims has been slowed both by geography and by Afghanistan’s decimated condition.
Election losses prompt U.K. party chair to resign
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s leadership suffered a fresh blow Friday with the resignation of his party chairman after the Conservatives lost two symbolically important parliamentary seats in elections.
Oliver Dowden, chairman of the ruling Conservative Party and early backer of Mr. Johnson, resigned from his post after his party was defeated in two special parliamentary elections, saying pointedly “somebody must take responsibility.”
“We cannot carry on with business as usual,” he penned in a letter to the prime minister.
His resignation came hours after Conservatives lost seats to the opposition Labour Party and Liberal Democrats in areas of the country where the defeats will send jitters through the Tories and renew questions about Mr. Johnson’s leadership.
Jordan’s king supports Middle East alliance
Jordan’s King Abdullah II said he would support the formation of a Middle East military alliance similar to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ahead of a visit of U.S. President Joe Biden to the region.
“I would be one of the first people that would endorse a Middle East NATO,” the king, a major U.S. ally, said in a CNBC interview.
Gulf oil exporters have been pressing the U.S. for better defense against attacks they blame on Iran and its proxies. This week Israel’s defense minister said his country had already developed an air-defense alliance with the U.S. and regional partners that successfully thwarted Iranian attempts to attack Israel and other Middle Eastern countries.
The king said the vision for a Middle East NATO must be very clear, and its role should be well defined.